Gryphons
by Silk Weaver
Summary: Cloud Strife has been introduced to a whole new world, when he is chosen by the gryphon Fenrir. AU. Rating may change. Several pairings may eventually be implied.
1. Partners

**Author's Note:** This is one short story, from a bunch of them that have been floating around in my head. I've actually written down a bunch of them. I doubt it will turn into a chapter thing, but it'll probably be a series of short stories/drabbles. Any new stories for this that I write, I'll update here as "chapters" just to keep everything neat. Doesn't mean they'll be in chronological order, though.

Also, I _am_ working on that expansion of Losing Love. Slowly, but it hasn't died yet.

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**Partners**

Each gryphon in the flock had a distinct coloration and personality. Before he'd become a rider, Cloud hadn't been able to tell the difference between one of the great birds of prey and another- he'd barely been able to distinguish between their riders. Even after he'd joined, at first he had barely been able to tell Fenrir apart from the rest.

Now, though, he could tell which gryphon was which even when they were just blurs of color in the sky. Sometimes, he felt that he knew them better than he knew their riders. For all their intelligence, the gryphons were still animals, and were simpler than people. They liked what they liked, hated what they hated, and they didn't hide it from anyone. It was so much easier than dealing with humans, who had layer upon layer and could never, in Cloud's opinion, be fully understood. All he had to do with the gryphons was bring them their favorite treats and give them attention, and he'd made a new friend. It was so much easier than dealing with other people that Cloud had taken to spending most of his time up on the cliffs where the birds nested. Now, three months after he'd become one of the Free Kingdom's riders, he had gotten to know the birds quite well.

Today, since he didn't have any tasks to perform, Cloud had once again slipped away from the outpost and up to the cliffs, where the gryphons always went to sun themselves. He'd never actually seen any of the other riders up there, since most had their gryphons land by the drill grounds to dismount there. He hadn't expected to find Cid already up there, petting and crooning to his mount Sierra.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-" Cloud stammered, backing away a bit toward the path down the cliffs. Cid had apparently just gotten back from a patrol- Sierra's saddle and other gear were laid in a neat stack off to the side. Cloud felt like he had just intruded on a private moment, something more intimate than just taking care of a gryphon. He didn't want Cid getting embarrassed, or irritated at him, so he got ready to quickly depart. Cid had a sharp tongue when he was angry.

Despite his expectations, though, Cid only laughed and waved him back over. "Naah, kid, 's fine. Don't let me keep you from spendin' time with these beauties."

Cloud cautiously edged forward, toward Fenrir, burying his hands in the gryphon's crest feathers, much to the bird's delight. He'd wanted to spend time with the gryphons, but now that Cid was there, he wasn't sure what to do. He did his best to ignore the other man, but he still felt tense and awkward about being in his presence. Was it taboo to touch someone else's mount? Why was Cid still up here, anyway? His patrol was finished. Cloud almost started to edge away again, instead of staying to deal with the tension the older blonde's presence had created.

The birds weren't about to have that, though. Before he could get more than a few steps away from Fenrir, Heaven and Gaia moved into his path, butting at him with their heads in greeting and to demand scratches.

Behind him, Cid laughed again, and Cloud flushed, though he still reached out to pet Gaia's smooth brown feathers. Aerith's mount made a contented chirping sound and pressed back against his hand, hazel eyes half-shuttered. Cloud heard Cid approaching, and was slightly surprised when Heaven peeled away from him and moved over to Cid, to demand preening from _him_ instead. Heaven was a prideful bird, and she wouldn't do that for just anyone. Cloud had only just gotten her to like him.

Cid crooned over her for a few more moments before turning to look at Cloud, who was staring at him disbelievingly. "Ya must spend a lot of time up here, if y've gotten Heaven to like ya." Cloud was only able to nod mutely. Cid had seemed to him a soldier through and through, when they'd been introduced, or when he saw him in the mess. It had never occurred to him that the man could be so... soft.

"I c'n see why. I used ta do the same thing when I first got a gryphon. Spent all my time with them, 'stead of making friends with the other trainees. Always thought that they were damn beautiful, could barely believe it when I first went to the training grounds," Cid continued, ignoring the stare that Cloud had continued to give him in favor of lavishing Heaven with more attention.

"Why?" Cloud asked hesitantly. "I'm sure you could have made plenty of friends." Cid was confident in a way that Cloud had a hard time imagining himself. In fact, it seemed like all the other conventionally trained riders were confident in themselves and their abilities. In his mind, it was probably a result of their training.

Again, Cid laughed. "Upstart brat like I was? No way in hell. Only friend I got during that was Vince. Back then, I thought the birds were better company than people. Still do sometimes, though this squad's a good bunch. Love these birds, though. Got to know 'em all almost as well as Sierra. Not that I'd give her up, though. Best damn partner I could've imagined."

"I've never seen you up here, though," Cloud pointed out. Highwind simply shrugged and finally turned away from the gryphons, hoisting up Sierra's tack to carry over one shoulder.

"Well, sure. I've been busy. 'Sides, Sierra can take after herself," the older rider said as he walked past Cloud toward the path down the cliff. He paused and turned back to look at Cloud. "Kid, let me tell ya somethin'. It's a good thing that ya like the birds an' all. No one will get angry at ya for spendin' time with them. But it won't hurt you ta get to know the others, you hear? There's a reason we let our gryphons choose their riders here on the border. Means that all th' riders are trustworthy. You trust the gryphons, right? You c'n trust their partners, too."

After Cid was gone, Cloud sat among the gryphons, simply absorbing their presence, and thinking about Cid's words. He had been too intimidated before to think about trying to socialize, and the others had seemed too busy with their own work to spare any time for him. SO he had retreated to the gryphons.

If Cid was right, though... then they at least wouldn't bother him. The gryphons picked their partners, so they must pick someone who would take care of them. And the gryphons liked him as well. That meant the others would like him too, right?

He wouldn't just go out and start making friends with them. That was a bit much for him to do in one go. But he would watch and see. Maybe Cid was right.


	2. Little Things

**Author's Note:** Another one! This one is a "short story" in every sense of the word, unless you consider it a drabble. This is the first thing that I wrote for Gryphons, for whatever reason. I'm not quite sure how this little thing sparked the whole universe that I have going.

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**Little Things**

As soon as they had gotten the chance to, they'd pierced his ears.

Cloud hadn't seen any reason for it at first. He'd thought it was just the girls being... well, girls. After all, Tifa and Aerith had been threatening to dress him up from the moment they'd met him, though he couldn't see how earrings had anything to do with it.

He hadn't believed Tifa when she'd said that they all had piercings, every single Rider. Aerith had seconded her, so Cloud had dashed out of the tent to check. There were some things you just couldn't believe without seeing them for yourself.

It was true, though- every single gryphon rider in the camp had them, two in each ear. Yuffie had gotten them, though she had only been a Rider for a little longer than he had. Cid, who Cloud had thought too rough for such things, had the piercings. Even _Sephiroth_ had them. And everyone had delicate silver studs, small enough to keep from catching on things, but large enough to be visible. Tifa had explained, once she'd dragged him back to Aerith's tent.

It was, she had said, one of the ways to identify the Free Kingdom's Riders. "Our gryphons are not the only ones out there," she had told him. "There are plenty out there that don't come to us, and there are rouges and bandits eager to take advantage of that to impersonate our riders. There isn't much we can do to stop them, or get rid of all of them. Instead, we make ourselves hard to impersonate. The earrings, the designs on our tunics, the styling on the gryphons' halters- it's all hard to be copied, especially by a poor bunch of bandits. It lets us riders know who we're actually dealing with, and the people don't trust a rider who's shabby, so it all works out."

He had stopped listening after that, mostly because Aerith had started coming toward him with needles, to make the piercings. It wasn't that he mistrusted her, or expected her to attack him with the things; it was just that he didn't want anyone coming near him with sharp things, and instinct demanded that he watch for any sign of attack. Both of the girls had noticed, of course, but neither commented, and Aerith hadn't seemed all that offended. The healer had simply left the tent, leaving him in Tifa's care.

He actually started to like the earrings, once he had gotten used to them. It fit, somehow, and he didn't feel ridiculous with them in the way he thought he would, even when Aerith teased him about fainting in the middle of getting the piercings, or Fenrir got distracted by the shiny, sparkly things. It was little things like this that made him feel like a part of the group.


	3. Longing for the Skies

**Author's Note:** Another chapter of Gryphons! This one is based around Cid, and some of his past with the riders. A lot of it is basically background information that'll probably help with the story later on. Of course, if you're confused about anything, or you want clarification, feel free to ask me about it!

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**Longing for the Skies**

"Hey there, beautiful," Cid murmured as he ran his hands gently along Sierra's crested ear tufts. "Hey, missy. You ready to go flyin'?"

The gryphon let out an affectionate croon and butted back against his hands, her wings half spread already. Cid chuckled, and reached down to grab the tack that he had set down beside him. It was barely dawn, and the rest of the camp was asleep. There was barely enough light to see by, and for most of the riders, that meant that there was also no point in getting up to go out on patrol. When Cid had volunteered to take this shift, the others had all welcomed the idea. If Cid was willing to greet the dawn from gryphon-back, all the more power to him- they could sleep until a decent hour.

Even with little light, Cid had no problem buckling on Sierra's saddle and bridle, familiar with them after years of doing the same thing in any circumstances. His gryphon was cooperative, standing still and waiting eagerly for him to finish buckling on the tack. She wanted to fly as much as he did.

It didn't take long before everything was finished. Cid gave one last tug to make sure that everything was secure, before jumping up into the saddle, easily clearing the height of Sierra's back and settling into his seat as the gryphon shied, eager to take off. He didn't let her. Instead, he held her still as he buckled himself into the saddle. It was a precaution he had to take, even if he only used the basic straps to keep himself in place. He knew Sierra wouldn't do anything to buck him on purpose, but it was always a danger, being high up in the air. Better to take the precaution than get killed.

Finally, he was ready to take off, and he gave Sierra her freedom to move. She leaped forward in an explosion of motion, wings pumping as she dashed toward the edge of the cliff in bounding strides, and jumped over the edge.

For a thrilling moment, she seemed to fall, before snapping out her huge wings and sending them up into the air with strong with strong wing strokes. Cid laughed breathlessly, filled with adrenaline from the takeoff and overjoyed to be in the air again. Beneath him, Sierra strained to get altitude in the cold morning air. Later, when the sun had heated the air, she could ride the thermals with ease, but until then, every single rise in height had to be fought for. Cid moved with her, lightening the burden of carrying a rider with her up into the sky.

Finally she got high enough that she no longer needed to aim upward, only forward. It was brighter at this height but no warmer, and Cid shivered slightly at the chill wind from Sierra's wings. It was like sticking his head into a bucket of water. Now thoroughly awake, he turned his eyes to the ground, looking for any evidence of movement with ease gained from years of practice doing just that.

It was strange that after all these years flying still had not lost any of its thrills. Cid could never get over the rush of taking off, or the feeling of the wind rushing past him as he looked down at the ground below.

He could still remember his days as a trainee rider. Back then, he had just been some ambitious kid, who had shoved and begged his way into working as a stable hand with the Kingdom's gryphons and, against all expectations, had actually been good enough with the birds to have one attach herself to him.

His first job when he had gotten hired at the gryphon compound was to look after a slate-gray bird with unusually large wings. She was not used by a rider, something Cid had not seen the reason for. Sure, she had a bit of a temper, but that was only when she was mishandled. When she was treated right, she became a loyal and friendly (though a bit spirited) mount. (That was before Cid had realized that most of Midgar's riders didn't want gryphons with personalities, but ones that took the least bit of energy to control.) Because she had no rider to have her looked after, Cid had been in charge of feeding her, cleaning her stall, and getting her exercise, though he hadn't actually been allowed to ride her.

It had been a slow process, getting to know Sierra, but he'd worked his way into her good graces. It had taken time and effort, but he had never been one to be afraid of hard work, and it had been worth it simply to be around the gryphons. Working with them was everything he had dreamed of. He'd figured that he was lucky to even be here, so the possibility of anything more had been dismissed from his mind.

But then Sierra chose him.

He'd simply been grooming her one day, when she had looked at him with her unblinking hawk eyes, and he had understood, somehow, that she wanted him to stay with her, and that he was somehow hers, and she was his, and that she would never allow any other rider to work with her, now that she had _him_.

Because of Sierra, he had become a trainee rider, even if the higher-ups had frowned about it. Hell, even the other trainees had turned up their noses. It was Midgar, after all, where the riders were chosen because of how influential their families were, instead of bonds being formed between the gryphons and their riders. To most of the others, he was a peasant boy raised above his station, nothing more. It didn't matter how well he did in classes or with Sierra. He was doomed to be ignored and harassed by his peers.

He had been lonely, of course, but he had forced himself past it. He was okay if he had Sierra, he tried to convince himself- he didn't need anyone else. But even the thrill of his first flight couldn't completely dull the loneliness.

A few months after he had been picked by Sierra, he had been spending time in the gryphon compound to avoid his peers (and wasn't it ironic, that the gryphon compound was the best place one could go to _avoid_ gryphon riders?). Instead of the place being nearly deserted, he'd found another trainee there with his gryphon.

Cid had recognized the bird at first sight. It was Galian, a gryphon who many of the trainees took because of his beautiful purple and white plumage, then stopped riding because he was simply too tricky for them to keep control of. As far as Cid knew, Galian had been passed through the hands of at least three riders since Sierra had chosen him. The trainee wasn't a familiar one, but from the young man's refined features and pale skin, Cid had assumed him a stuck-up nobleman like the others and had nearly left without even going to the next stall where Sierra was kept, but he had hesitated.

He was surprised. The young man hadn't even noticed him. He had too much attention absorbed in the gryphon. He was trying to groom Galian, while the gryphon protested and fidgeted. Most of the trainees would have done a sloppy job, or would have given up halfway through. Instead, this trainee was being meticulous and remaining calm and focused even when Galian snapped at him. Cid had watched for a few minutes without being noticed, and was admittedly a bit impressed. Aristocrat this guy might be, but at least he was competent.

The guy was almost finished when he glanced up and saw Cid standing there, watching him. His eyes (red eyes, Cid was surprised to see) widened for a moment, before the man's face settled into a neutral mask. "Yes?" he asked, sounding the slightest bit defensive.

"Oh, sorry. Just didn' expect ta see anyone else here, s'all," Cid said, giving an easygoing grin. "Especially not taking care o' that one." He gestured toward Galian, who was twitching away from the man's hands again.

The defensive look got stronger. "He is my gryphon. Why wouldn't I?"

And he had spunk, too. Cid could feel his grin widening, and didn't do anything to hide it. "Well, first there's th' question of why he's yer gryphon in the first place," he pointed out, leaning against the stall's door. "Galian doesn't get along well with riders, ya could say. I've seen 'im passed around like a plague since I got here. Troublemakers like 'im aren't very popular." He nodded toward the brush in the man's hand. " 'Sides, not many riders take care o' their gryphons, even without ones like Galian. Wasn't expecting to see someone like you here."

"I suppose by "someone like me" you mean a useless nobleman's son who is a rider only for the power and the title," the man said, finishing grooming Chaos with a few brisk strokes of the brush before stepping outside of the stall and firmly closing the door behind him. His expression had barely changed, but Cid somehow got the feeling he was amused. Certainly he didn't seem angered.

Because of that impression, Cid didn't bother to deny the accusation. He simply shrugged. "Well, I've always thought that there were two kinds of riders- that kind, an' me. You gonna prove me wrong?"

The black-haired guy seemed surprised. He'd probably thought that Cid was one of the stable hands, not actually a rider, the way that everyone else did when they first met him. Cid was getting defensive himself when the other man spoke again.

"So you're Cid Highwind." He said. It wasn't mocking, simply a statement of a fact, but Cid's hands still curled into fists at his side.

"Yeah, I am." Cid said, trying to brush it off. "An' who're you? I can't just go around calling you 'not a pansy-ass noble'. Well, I could, but I doubt you'd appreciate it."

The other young man held out his hand. "Vincent Valentine." Vincent paused for a moment, and then added, "At first, I kept Galian out of stubbornness. After a time, he chose me." Vincent's red eyes were examining Cid again. "I assume you know what that is like."

Cid was impressed despite himself, and he reached out to shake Vincent's hand. "I reckon I do. Glad to meet another rider that ain't an idiot, Vincent."

"Same." Vincent had muttered, in a tone so wearily irritated that Cid had been surprised into laughing.

Vincent had become his friend quickly. Cid hadn't realized how desperately he had needed a friend until he looked back at it many years later. Having Vincent to stand by made everything more bearable. The two of them had challenged each other to improve, even when their peers and their teachers obviously didn't care about the effort they poured into their gryphons. They trained their gryphons for battle using every book on Gryphon battle tactics they could find, and they had even made up a few maneuvers of their own. Vincent had been there to patch him up every time Cid's mouth and temper got him into trouble with the ennobled riders. Cid had refused to leave Vincent's side after, during a small skirmish, Galian had gone insane, and very nearly killed his own bonded rider.

Rank hadn't mattered as long as they were still working together. For a long time, it had only been the two of them who had actually cared about their gryphons and their responsibilities. It was difficult to try to stay honest among such corruption, but there was not much else that they could do. Until they met Sephiroth- barely out of being a trainee, but with ambitions to change the whole system of the Kingdom's riders, and already growing into the power to do so.

Everything had started when they met Sephiroth.

By this point, the sun was well above the horizon, and Cid's patrol of the border was complete. He contemplated simply staying out flying with Sierra, but he had duties waiting for him and despite the growing thermals, Sierra was tired. She could keep flying for a much longer time, of course, but Cid hated to tax her if there wasn't the need for it, so he turned her back toward the outpost. He would be reporting clear borders to Sephiroth for the first time in a long while, so he wanted to get back quickly. The commander would be glad to have good news for once.


End file.
